The newly launched initiative will allow university students to help close the achievement gap and bolster student learning in Hillsborough County’s high-needs schools.
The University of South Florida (USF) College of Education has joined a new initiative launched by Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) to place college students and recent graduates as academic interventionalists and tutors in schools across the district’s Transformation Network.
The Transformation Fellowship Program aims to attract several hundred university and college-level students to serve as tutors, mentors and support staff in the district’s most vulnerable and high-need schools. Fellows will be trained to “push in” to classrooms and assist in the implementation of targeted support.
Transformation Fellows will receive paid job opportunities, as well as specialized training and professional development, to provide needed small-group instruction and supplemental academic support. The program is open to college students and recent graduates who are earning a degree in education or a relevant subject area and who have a passion for helping support the community's most vulnerable schools and students.
“The USF College of Education is proud to partner with Hillsborough County Public Schools as a partner institution for the Transformation Fellowship Program,” said R. Anthony Rolle, PhD, dean of the USF College of Education. “We hope that this new initiative serves as an opportunity to attract more talented students to careers within the education profession and that it helps to address pressing needs of the district’s most vulnerable schools.”
Launched in 2020, the HCPS Transformation Network is a division focused on supporting and managing the most vulnerable and chronically underperforming schools. The Transformation Fellowship Program was launched as part of the network’s efforts to attract people from diverse backgrounds, identities and perspectives to the teaching profession.
“When we started to be faced with the pandemic, we knew that we had to do something differently to be able to eliminate the learning loss that took place related to COVID,” said Addison Davis, HCPS Superintendent of Schools. “This fellowship will allow us to pay college and university students $15 an hour to work 15-25 hours per week to truly concentrate on students who need us the most…This is a major win for our children and also for our partnerships.”
Other partner institutions supporting the program include the University of Tampa, Saint Leo University and Hillsborough Community College. The program is currently accepting student applications and is set to launch in January 2022.
College and university students interested in applying for the Transformation Fellowship Program can apply online or by contacting the Transformation Network Office at TransformationNetwork@hcps.net.